WO2014163006A1

WO2014163006A1 - Dustproof cap

Info

Publication number: WO2014163006A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/059158
Authority: WO
Inventors: 謙一池谷; 知弘彦坂
Original assignee: 矢崎総業株式会社
Priority date: 2013-04-01
Filing date: 2014-03-28
Publication date: 2014-10-09
Also published as: JP6200184B2; CN105074523A; JP2014202776A; DE112014001787B4; DE112014001787T5

Abstract

A dustproof cap (3) for preventing the entry of dust into a connector housing (5) is retained on an optical connector (2) provided with: the connector housing (5) for covering the terminal of an optical cable; a shield case (7) for shielding the connector housing (5); an optical transceiver (9) for converting optical signals and electrical signals, the optical tranceiver (9) being provided with an optical coupling part (41) in which a main body (39) and the optical cable are coupled; and a sleeve (11) having the optical coupling part (41) of the optical transceiver (9) mounted at one-end side, and the optical coupling part of a mating-side optical connector mounted at the other-end side, thereby allowing alignment of the optical axes of the optical coupling part (41) of the optical transceiver (9) and the optical coupling part of the mating-side optical connector, the dustproof cap (3) being provided with: a cap main part (49) inserted into the connector housing (5); an opening plug part (13) formed integrally with the cap main part (49), the opening plug part (13) closing the opening section (23) of the connector housing (5); and a projecting part (53) formed integrally with the cap main part (49), the projecting part (53) being capable of retaining the cap main part (49) on the connector housing (5) by being pressed into the other-end side of the sleeve (11).

Description

Dustproof cap

The present invention relates to a dustproof cap that is used in an optical connector for connecting an optical cable that performs optical transmission, and prevents dust from entering the optical connector.

Patent Document 1 proposes this kind of dustproof cap. In the dustproof cap of the conventional example proposed in Patent Document 1, a fitting portion into which the optical coupling portion side of the optical connector is inserted and fitted is formed. The fitting portion is formed in a box shape with one end side opened and the other end side closed, and a protruding portion for protecting the optical coupling portion of the optical connector is formed inside the wall portion closing the other end side. ing. Moreover, the lock | rock latching | locking part latched to the connector lock | rock of an optical connector is provided in the outer peripheral part of the fitting part.

This prevents the optical connector inserted and fitted into the fitting portion from being pulled out, and the dust coupling cap covers the optical coupling portion of the optical connector to prevent dust from entering the optical coupling portion.

JP 2002-023009 (JP 2002-023009 A)

In the conventional dustproof cap, in order to prevent the optical connector from coming off from the dustproof cap, a connector lock is provided on the outer periphery of the optical connector, and a lock locking portion for locking to the connector lock is provided on the outer periphery of the dustproof cap. For this reason, an optical connector and a dustproof cap become a complicated structure, and manufacturing cost becomes high.

In addition, a dustproof cap provided with a lock locking part and a connector lock is not provided. For example, when a PCB connector is inserted and fitted into the dustproof cap, a connector lock is provided on the dustproof cap side to prevent disconnection. This complicates the structure of the dustproof cap.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a dustproof cap that can prevent the intrusion of dust into the optical connector without complicating the shape.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a dustproof cap according to an aspect of the present invention includes a connector housing that is box-shaped and has an opening at one end and an end of the optical cable inserted therein to cover the end of the optical cable. And an optical transceiver for converting an optical signal and an electrical signal by being connected to the optical cable, and a shield case that is provided on an outer periphery of the optical fiber, and shields the connector housing. The optical coupling portion of the optical transceiver is connected to the other end side by mounting the optical coupling portion of the optical transceiver on one end side and the optical coupling portion of the counterpart optical connector on the other end side. Dust entering the connector housing is held by an optical connector that includes a sleeve that can be aligned with the optical axis of the optical connector of the optical connector. A dust-proof cap for preventing intrusion, a cap main body portion inserted into the connector housing, an opening closing portion which is formed integrally with the cap main body portion and closes the opening portion of the connector housing, and a cap main body portion; The cap body portion is formed integrally and is press-fitted into the other end side of the sleeve, thereby providing a protruding portion capable of holding the cap main body portion in the connector housing.

With such a configuration, the protruding portion of the dustproof cap can protect the optical transceiver.

In addition, since the dustproof cap can be fitted to the optical connector, even if an optical connector without a connector lock is used, the dustproof cap of the optical connector can be protected without complicating the shape of the dustproof cap. It can be carried out.

It is preferable that a fitting portion protruding from the opening closing portion is provided so as to surround the periphery of the protruding portion.

By providing such a fitting portion, the dust cap can be fitted along the optical axis of the optical coupling portion. For this reason, it can prevent that the optical axis of an optical coupling part shakes.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the connector of the optical connector according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a dustproof cap fitted to the optical connector according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the dust cap according to the embodiment before fitting into the connector. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the dust cap according to the embodiment is fitted to the connector. FIG. 5A is a side view showing the dust-proof cap side in a state where the dust-proof cap according to the embodiment is fitted, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector showing a dust path expected to enter the optical connector according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 6, the dust cap 3 according to the embodiment will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an optical connector 2 (PCB connector: Connector Printed Circuit Board) to which the dust cap 3 according to the embodiment can be fitted.

The optical connector 2 includes a box-shaped connector housing 5, a shield case 7 disposed so as to cover the outer periphery of the connector housing 5, and an optical transceiver 9 (FOT: Fiber) for performing conversion between an optical signal and an electrical signal. Optical Transceiver) and a sleeve 11 that aligns the optical axis of the optical coupling portion 41. A mating optical connector (not shown) can be attached to the optical connector 2.

The connector housing 5 is formed with an upper surface 17 and a lower surface 19 so as to face each other, and is formed so that the side walls 21 face each other so as to connect the end portions of the upper surface 17 and the lower surface 19. ing. A mating optical connector (not shown) or a dust cap 3 is inserted into the opening 23 on one end side of the connector housing 5. An optical transceiver 9 can be inserted into the opening on the other end side of the connector housing 5.

A plurality of cap guide walls 29 for guiding the dustproof cap 3 are provided on the inner wall surface 25 of the connector housing 5. On the outer wall surface 27 of the connector housing 5, a shield case locking portion 31 for locking the shield case 7 is provided upright.

The shield case 7 is formed in a substantially U shape so as to cover the outer wall surface 27 of the connector housing 5. The shield case 7 includes a side wall portion 33 formed so as to face each other, and a connecting wall portion 35 that connects the side wall portions 33 facing each other.

A side wall locking portion 37 that locks with the shield case locking portion 31 provided in the connector housing 5 is formed on the side wall portion 33. The shield case 7 is fixed to the connector housing 5 by the side wall locking portion 37 and the shield case locking portion 31 being locked.

The optical transceiver 9 includes a box-shaped main body 39 and an optical coupling portion 41 formed so as to protrude from the fitting side surface 40 of the main body 39. The optical transceiver 9 is accommodated in the connector housing 5.

The sleeve 11 is formed of a thin plate-like member in a cylindrical shape, and a slit 43 is formed in a part thereof, and has elasticity. An optical coupling portion 41 of the optical transceiver 9 is attached to one end side of the sleeve 11, and an optical coupling portion (not shown) of a counterpart optical connector (not shown) is attached to the other end side of the sleeve 11. The optical axes of the optical coupling portion 41 of the optical transceiver 9 and the optical coupling portion (not shown) of the counterpart optical connector (not shown) can be aligned.

The other end side of the sleeve 11 can be mounted with an optical coupling portion (not shown) of a counterpart optical connector (not shown) or a protruding portion 53 of the dust cap 3.

The inner diameter of the sleeve 11 is set smaller than the outer periphery of the light coupling portion 41 or the protrusion 53 of the dust cap 3. Since the sleeve 11 is formed of an elastic thin plate material, the diameter can be increased by the slit 43. For this reason, the inner periphery 45 of the sleeve 11 is press-fitted and fixed to the outer periphery of the optical coupling portion 41 and the protruding portion 53. The outer circumferences of the optical coupling portion 41 of the optical transceiver 9, the optical coupling portion (not shown) of the counterpart optical connector (not shown), and the protruding portion 53 of the dust cap 3 are set to the same outer diameter.

The dust-proof cap 3 includes a box-shaped opening closing portion 13 and a standing portion 15 standing from the opening closing portion 13.

The opening closing portion 13 is formed in a substantially box shape and closes the opening portion 23 of the connector housing 5 by the fitting side wall surface 48 to be inserted into the optical connector 2.

The standing portion 15 includes a cap main body portion 49 that is inserted into the connector housing 5, a hole portion 51 that is recessed in the cap main body portion 49, and a protruding portion that is formed to protrude into the hole portion 51 53, a fitting portion 55 provided around the cap body portion 49, and a recess 57 into which the cap guide wall 29 of the connector housing 5 is inserted.

The cap main body 49 is provided so as to protrude from the opening closing portion 13 to the connector side.

The inner diameter of the hole 51 can be appropriately changed depending on the shape of the connector housing 5 to be fitted, and may be any shape that fits into the shape of the connector housing 5.

The outer diameter of the protruding portion 53 is formed to be equal to the outer diameter of the optical coupling portion 41. The sleeve 11 is press-fitted into the outer periphery of the protruding portion 53.

The fitting portion 55 is formed so as to protrude from the cap body portion 49 in a direction orthogonal to the cap insertion direction. The fitting portion 55 of the dust cap 3 is guided by the cap guide wall 29 formed on the inner wall surface 25 of the connector housing 5, and the optical connector 2 and the dust cap 3 are securely fitted.

The recess 57 is formed by being recessed in the cap body 49. Since the cap guide wall 29 formed on the inner wall surface 25 of the connector housing 5 is in sliding contact with the recess 57, the dust cap 3 can be securely attached to the optical connector 2.

Next, attachment of the dust cap 3 to the optical connector 2 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shield case 7 is disposed so as to cover the outer periphery of the connector housing 5. At this time, the side wall locking portion 37 provided on the shield case 7 is locked to the shield case locking portion 31 provided on the outer wall surface 27 of the connector housing 5, whereby the connector housing 5 and the shield case 7 are fixed. Has been.

Next, the optical transceiver 9 is inserted from the opening on the other end side of the connector housing 5, and the sleeve 11 is press-fitted into the optical coupling portion 41 formed in the optical transceiver 9.

Then, the opening 23 on one end side of the connector housing 5 is inserted into the dust cap 3 in the arrow direction B shown in FIG.

At this time, the cap guide wall 29 provided on the inner wall surface 25 of the connector housing 5 and the fitting portion 55 and the concave portion 57 of the dust-proof cap 3 are brought into sliding contact with each other to guide to an accurate fitting position, as shown in FIG. As shown, the connector housing 5 and the dust cap 3 are fitted. As shown in FIG. 5, the dust-proof cap 3 guided by the cap guide wall 29 is inserted into the connector housing 5 so that the cap main body portion 49 is fitted into the connector housing 5.

Furthermore, when the protrusion 53 formed on the dust cap 3 is press-fitted into the sleeve 11, the attachment of the dust cap 3 to the optical connector 2 is completed.

By providing the projection 53 in the dustproof cap 3 with the above-described configuration, the projection 53 can protect the optical transceiver 9 and the dustproof cap 3 can be fitted to the optical connector 2. it can. For this reason, even when the optical connector 2 in which the connector lock is not formed is employed, the optical connector 2 can be protected against dust without complicating the shape of the dust cap 3.

In addition, since the protrusion 53 is press-fitted into the sleeve 11 and press-fitted into the connector housing 5, the dust-proof cap 3 can be fitted along the optical axis of the optical coupling portion 41. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the optical axis of the optical coupling portion 41 from being shaken.

Furthermore, the opening 23 of the connector housing 5 is closed by the opening closing part 13 of the dust cap 3. For this reason, infiltration of the dust from the opening part 23 of the connector housing 5 can be prevented.

Further, an arrow D shown in FIG. 6 indicates a dust intrusion route. Even if dust enters from between the optical connector 2 and the dust-proof cap 3 as shown by the arrow D, the standing portion 15 of the dust-proof cap 3 must be bypassed before reaching the optical coupling portion 41. For this reason, dust can hardly enter the optical coupling portion 41.

In addition, in embodiment, although demonstrated using the PCB connector as the optical connector 2 which the dust-proof cap 3 fits, it can use as a dust-proof cap for not only a PCB connector but an in-line connector which couple | bonds optical cables. .

The present invention can be used for an optical connector used to connect an optical fiber that performs optical transmission.

Claims

A connector housing having an opening at one end and having an optical cable terminal inserted therein to cover the optical cable terminal; a shield case provided on an outer periphery of the connector housing to shield the connector housing; and a main body And an optical coupling unit that is coupled to the optical cable and is connected to the optical cable and performs conversion between an optical signal and an electrical signal, and is provided in the connector housing. The optical coupling part of the optical transceiver and the optical coupling part of the counterpart optical connector are attached to the other end side of the optical coupling part of the optical transceiver and the optical coupling part of the counterpart optical connector. It is held by an optical connector having a sleeve that can be aligned with the optical axis to prevent dust from entering the connector housing. A because of the dust cap,
A cap body inserted into the connector housing;
An opening closing portion that is integrally formed with the cap body portion and closes the opening of the connector housing;
A dustproof cap, comprising: a protrusion that is formed integrally with the cap body and press-fitted into the other end of the sleeve so that the cap body can be held in the connector housing.
The dust cap according to claim 1,
A dust-proof cap, wherein a fitting portion is provided so as to protrude from the opening closing portion so as to surround the protrusion.